For the second morning in a row, Miu rushed Kokichi to get ready, looking much better now that she had gotten some proper sleep. He acted like he was irritated by the insistence, but he was nearly as anxious to get out of there and finally complete the project. It was pretty early, so early that Shuichi had yet to wake up, but Kokichi decided to avoid repeating yesterday's mistake by leaving a note on Shuichi's ladder.
'Off with Iruma-chan, won't be gone all day this time, promise!' was what the note said. Then, satisfied with that, he and Miu were headed up the stairwell.
Once out the doors, a chill came over him as he noticed that it was still pretty dark outside. Of course, the warm colours were seeping into the sky in the east, but the west still sat dark blue. He let out a small yawn as he ran a couple steps to catch up to Miu.
While yesterday they had been energetic in anticipation, that morning was pretty quiet. It was funny how that was the case since they both had likely slept better that night than the night before, but Kokichi blamed it on the cold air and time of day. Still, the sky was pretty clear as it had been the day before, meaning it would likely be another sunny day.
As soon as they had climbed down the hatch into Miu's second lab, they got right to work on finally finishing Kiibo. All that was left were the final touches on making sure the outer metal body around Kiibo's skeleton and wires was secure and not in the way of limb and motion function. That and… Miu had been avoiding connecting the head and final circuitry until they had made sure that the body was fully functioning.
Kokichi also wouldn't blame her if it was just too hard to look at with the head on before he was ready to be powered on.
They had tested all the features that needed to be checked about a million times before Miu wiped her forehead and let out an exhausted sigh. She looked at the robot body for a moment before looking at Kokichi with a questioning look that spoke for what she was asking enough without any words having to be said.
Kokichi nodded, a serious look upon his face. It was time to finally put the last piece on.
Miu instructed Kokichi to hold the head as she connected the wires and prepared the parts that would keep the head safely attached. There was such a focus and precision on her face that Kokichi almost felt like she was a completely different person. She had yet to make any stupid, immature jokes that day, only occasionally snapping at Kokichi when he wasn't doing something correctly.
She was stressed, Kokichi could see it clearly, anxious yet a clear impatient excitement shone in her eyes. That moment meant even more to her than it did to him, he could say that confidently.
Finally, she told him to place the head in its spot, where she tightened all the parts that held it in place.
It was eerie, the sight of pale human-like skin upon the robot face, which was normal with how many bots they had seen over the year, but it was so deathly familiar a face that it spooked him a bit. Of course, Kiibo likely wasn't exactly how he looked before, but he could tell Miu tried her best to make that the case.
The robot sat on the workbench, eyes closed, not yet alive.
Miu stepped back once satisfied with the security of his head, opening the small compartment on his chest. There, she would insert the memory and identity chips that she had modified as upgraded versions of the ones she had stolen a year ago when they escaped from Team Danganronpa. But she hesitated. In her shaky palm, she held two chips, but she couldn't bring herself to put them in.
Kokichi decided to speak up then. "Do you think he'll remember the game? Or… Or us?" He asked.
The blonde didn't take her eyes off the robot, a sad expression on her face. "I… I don't know," she admitted, her voice scratchy as she spoke unusually low. "I don't even know if I'd want him to remember. Do you think he'd want to remember?"
He hummed thoughtfully, looking at the resting Kiibo and then out the side of the building at the bright blue sky. "I think he'd want to remember his friends, right? Maybe it would bring him relief if he remembered, since then he'd be able to know how he succeeded in saving us."
Miu frowned. Clearly, she didn't see it the same way. And… Maybe she was right in that. Maybe it was wrong to hope Kiibo remembered all that pain. Wouldn't it be better if Kiibo didn't know? Wouldn't it be better if he had a fresh start with Kiibo? But then… It didn't matter anyway. He didn't care about a friendship with Kiibo, he just wanted Miu and Shuichi and everyone to be happy when they saw Kiibo was back, memories or no memories.
"Well… Either way, there's nothing I can do to make it go one way or another. If he remembers all depends on how they used his memory chip and whether I screwed it up or not. So… It's not worth talking about." She said this aloud like she was trying to convince Kokichi of something, but he could tell she was saying it for herself.
Finally, she picked up the memory chip first and placed it in its slot. She took a deep breath as she picked up the identity chip. The identity chip was what would signal the robot to power on; the moment she put it in, his computer brain would start reading and scanning or however it worked, and Kiibo would begin to boot up.
Her hand shakily hovered over where the chip belonged, but after another deep breath, she gently put it in its place and shut the compartment, stepping back cautiously.
Kokichi held his breath as they both waited for something to happen, any signal of life and any noise at all that would say that it really worked. He was confident in Miu's skill, he was confident that she was capable of building Kiibo, but, still, he didn't quite believe it could be real yet, not until it worked.
The few seconds that passed in tension seemed to last far longer than they should've, but it was worth it.
The first sign of life made itself clear. Green symbols started to glow on Kiibo's bulky collar, spinning circles like a loading screen. Was it… Was it really real? There were some sounds similar to that of a bulky PC starting up that could be barely heard, even in the quiet of the lab. Then…
Kiibo's eyes opened. His posture on the desk had been lifeless before, but slight adjustments truly made it look as if he were real and sitting there naturally. His pupils struggled to focus for a moment as he stared blankly ahead, but then they rested naturally after that moment.
He turned his gaze to Miu, then Kokichi, and then out at the blue sky. He blinked then turned his head back to look at the two of them, standing in silent, anxious anticipation. Kiibo smiled, "I… I feel funny."
Miu nearly fell forwards after stumbling on her feet to stand close to the robot, wrapping her arms around him as she began to bawl into his metal chest. Not much could be made out between her sobs except for the robot's name.
Kiibo looked surprised but put a reassuring hand on Miu's back, which only made the latter sob harder. He looked confused as he looked at Miu, but then he looked up at Kokichi, a sad smile on his face. "Is it even possible for me to be here? I thought… I thought robots didn't go to the afterlife."
Kokichi's breath hitched. He still didn't believe it. He himself could feel tears welling up in eyes, but he didn't dare make a fool of himself for his first impression. Yet, he still couldn't speak. He opened his mouth and stared right at Kiibo then at the blonde crying in his metal arms, and then he looked back at Kiibo.
The robot just hummed. "Something tells me by the way you are looking that it is just as impossible as I thought. I am… I am quite confused, then. Iruma-san…" He looked down at the blonde, a look of grief falling on his face, "We both saw Iruma-san, didn't we? When she was…" Killed. The robot omitted that word, but continued. "You were, too. You… We didn't see you, but… Aren't you…?"
Kokichi shook his head softly.
"You saved us, Kiiboy."
. . .
Kiibo lay against the top of the building, looking up at his hands as Miu and Kokichi watched, sitting near him. His bottom lip trembled as he tearless-ly cried. "Life is so beautiful!" He cried as he watched his hands move and stared at the blue sky, "I don't understand it at all!" He let out a laugh between dry sobs, "My hands! They feel so real! And the air… it's all real!"
The robot laughed and cried as he outstretched his arms above him. Then he looked between the two others, pulling himself back up to sit between them. "The sky, did you see it? It's blue! It's so blue!" He looked out at the city, laughing childishly.
Kokichi wasn't one to judge. When the thirteen of them had woken up and found out it was real, they had lived in the same state of disbelief and wonder for a few days as well. They were alive. They were all alive. Except for Kiibo at the time. But now he was just as alive as he had been before.
He and Miu couldn't say much to the robot. Maybe they didn't know what to say, or maybe they didn't want to ruin the moment that Kiibo was having. Still, they both watched him as he went through every emotion in his robot brain. It was a good sign, Kokichi figured, it showed that his brain worked just as well as it had before, still allowing him to be very human.
Eventually, Kiibo's laughter and sobs died out and he just leaned back against his arms. "You guys built me, didn't you?" His question was unexpected as they hadn't told him anything except that the game had been completely fake.
They exchanged glances, and Kokichi just gave Miu a shrug. It should be Miu to tell Kiibo everything, he had decided. Kokichi was just there as a witness that Kiibo really was real, Miu was the one who was getting her friend back.
Miu laughed, "Hah, how'd ya' guess? Did you take one look at your hands and know the gorgeous girl genius made them?"
The robot hummed thoughtfully, glancing again at his hands before looking back at her. "Well, I knew they weren't the same, is all. If everything was fake, then… My body was probably fake, right? It feels funny, this new body, but maybe that's because it's new and real. And… Why's Ouma-kun here? Didn't he help?" He looked at Kokichi expectantly.
He froze at the question though, sending a glance for help to Miu. He wouldn't take any credit from Miu. He didn't care about what Kiibo thought of him after all, it was only important that she got the credit she deserved for being the inventor and main force behind it all.
She cracked a grin, "Ah, he was my temporary assistant! Just an extra pair of hands for my projects, y'know? It's only fair he be here when ya' booted back up!"
Kiibo smiled. "Thank you, Iruma-san. Thank you so much for helping me be alive again." And, then, completely unexpectedly, the robot turned to look at Kokichi. "Thank you, Ouma-kun. Thank you for being friends with Iruma-san."
Kokichi blinked, holding in the laugh he wanted to let out at the statement, but he didn't dare laugh at Kiibo's thanks. "I'll accept the thanks for helping, but… I'm not that ugly whore's friend! She'd agree, wouldn't she?"
Miu crossed her arms, letting out an annoyed huff, grumbling, "Oh, shut it, you. You know damn well we don't hate each other. So don't go giving that idea to Kiibo, just this once. Just take his damn 'thanks,' piss-stain."
Surprised again, he finally let himself laugh. Never did he think he'd ever hear Miu get that close to admitting they were friends in their own, odd way. He just blamed it on her wanting to make a good impression on Kiibo and shook his head, "Whatever…" He put on a childish grin, "You're welcome, Kiiboy. I guess I do make for a pretty good baby-sitter, huh?"
Miu scoffed, "Seriously?"
But Kiibo just shook his head in dismay. "I don't understand, but if Iruma-san says you are friends, then I'll believe it." He looked out at the city again. A small sigh leaving his mouth after a few moments had passed. "As much as I love the blue sky… This place is actually pretty sad when you look down."
Kokichi hummed in agreement. "It's pretty depressing, but our own place isn't as bad as everywhere else."
He turned his head, "Really? Our own place? Is… Is that where everyone else is? Do we have a nice home?"
Miu grinned proudly, "Well, 'course we do! Hah! I put together half the place, after all. It'd just be a depressing little cave under the ground if it wasn't for my brains! 'Course, uh… Angie and Tojo helped when it came to the looks and colours of the place, but… I'm kinda the most important part of it."
Kiibo looked at her with wonder, "Wow, really? You're so smart, Iruma-san!" Kokichi held back the retort that Kiibo hadn't even seen the place yet, but knew it was useless since he agreed. Miu was a genius, that genius only really applied to her inventing, but still a genius, he supposed.
The blonde let out a small whimper and went all red in the face as she crossed her arms and looked away, clearly flustered by the compliment, "Well, duh… I know that." Something in her voice told Kokichi she didn't always mean that.
The robot continued, "Could we go there? I want to see how nice of a home we have!"
Miu brightened up, glad for the change of topic, "Oh, yeah! We gotta show everyone how cool and alive you are! They're gonna be so happy when they see you! We should—" She cut herself off, taking notice of the look Kokichi was giving her, letting out an annoyed sigh. "But you're going to have to wait."
"Wait? Wait for what?" He looked confused, but followed Miu's gaze to look at Kokichi.
Kokichi grinned smugly, "I, uh… might've made Iruma-chan promise me something. But! First things first— You can fly now, can't you, Kiiboy?"
The blonde groaned, "Seriously? I am not making him try and figure out the flying function right as he wakes up, that's ridiculous! It's for emergency use only. Which is determined by me. And I say whatever ridiculous show you want to put on for Shit-hara is absolutely not an emergency."
"Awhh, c'mon! Iruma-chan! You're so mean!" He pulled out the fake crocodile tears for a moment before sniffling and saying, "You didn't even let me explain what I wanted to happen! I'm not going to make Kiiboy do anything difficult, I promise!"
She crossed her arms, letting out a huff. "Fine. Tell me what your stupid idea is."
Kokichi grinned, his performance snapping back to the cheery one like he always used to do. "Well, I was going to get Saihara-chan to come out here, telling him it's a surprise, then… Kiiboy would show off his flying by going out the side of the lab and landing on top of the building! I'm not asking for anything like a plane show or something. Just for him to suddenly appear in a cool way, y'know?"
Before Miu could give her response, Kiibo nodded enthusiastically. "As against flying as I used to be… I think a cool appearance would be very surprising and an excellent display of my new body, actually. Um, I'm a bit confused on why Ouma-kun needs such a dramatic display for Saihara-kun alone, but I suppose I do look forward to seeing him again. He saved everyone just as much as I did, I think."
Miu snorted, "It's not that complicated, Kiibo, trust me. Piss-stain just wants to impress Saihara by saying he helped bring ya' back so that the dick-tective will give him compliments and make out with him, hah!"
Kokichi groaned, "Really? I've told you this before, Iruma-chan, I don't have any interest in that at all! Yeah, I want to take a little bit of credit for it, but he's not stupid enough to not realise that you did most of it. I'm just making up for all I've done, that's all." He was telling a bit of truth. He didn't expect too much from Shuichi, he only wanted to finally feel like he had made up for what he had done.
She just laughed again, clearly not believing him. She leaned close to Kiibo, whispering something to him, but it was plenty loud enough for Kokichi to hear. "Y'know, what he wants is to get knocked up by Shit-hara."
Kiibo's face immediately flushed blue as he looked very taken aback by the statement. "I-Iruma-san! That's…! That's not even possible! As.. odd as Ouma-kun may be, I don't think that's a normal human thought for a man like him to have!" He shook his head, completely in distress, "No, no… I think I'll believe Ouma-kun this time. Sorry, Iruma-san."
Kokichi had originally wanted to be upset by the ridiculous comment Miu had made, but, because of Kiibo's hilarious reaction, he just burst out laughing. "You're choosing to believe me? Well, what if I told you Iruma-chan was right, huh? What would you say then, Kiiboy?" He grinned mischievously, deciding to just go along with the joke, despite the fact that he hated everything about Miu's comment.
"Ah…! Well… Then… I am at a loss for words because I do not understand why you would believe such a thing is possible. Nor would I understand why you would tell Iruma-san such a thing and be okay with her telling me. You are strange, but this is just too absolutely bizarre to be true, Ouma-kun." Kiibo sounded very convinced, which Kokichi was a bit disappointed with since that meant messing with him further likely wouldn't work.
He sighed, "Okay, you got me… Iruma-chan is a liar. I didn't want her to be caught so easily, but I guess that's on her for being such a terrible liar!"
Kiibo let out a sigh of relief, as if he had been worried that Kokichi was actually about to stubbornly defend Miu's stupid joke.
Silence settled over them as Kiibo continued to look out over the city, clearly deep in thought. It was still so unbelievable that Kiibo was sitting there, talking, joking, laughing, sighing… But Kokichi believed it now. He could see it clearly. Kiibo was back, and he couldn't wait for everyone else to see it.
Again, it was Kiibo who ended up breaking the silence. "So… How do I fly, Iruma-san?"
Miu let out a sigh, clearly still apprehensive of letting Kokichi carry through with his plan, but she kept her word. She stood up, waiting for Kiibo to do the same, then leading him a bit away from where Kokichi sat. "Well… You have a flight mode, but I'm not really sure how to instruct you on using it since you're in control of yourself."
She put a finger on top of a particular spot in Kiibo's collar, saying, "The button should be right here, and it's only meant to respond to your finger, so that way, certain annoying, little shits—" She shot a glare at Kokichi, who only responded with a wide grin, "—can't force you into the mode."
Kiibo nodded attentively. Reaching his hand up to find the button, but not yet pressing it. Instead he took a couple steps away from Miu, as if worried to accidentally hurt her or something. Then, when he pressed the button, his collar suddenly fully closed, hiding his mouth from sight, and, most noticeably, two wing-like attachments sprung out from his back.
He gasped at first, looking back at his newly appeared wings in shock, but then in wonder as he spun in a circle just to test how the wings felt on his back. "Wow, Iruma-san! As in-human as these are, I suppose there is something cool about being able to do such a thing. Thank you, Iruma-san!"
Again, Miu was flustered by the attention, crossing her arms and acting like it didn't affect her. "Well, I mean, all the other bots are able to do it, I figured why shouldn't you?"
Kiibo's eyes managed to light up with even more wonder. "Other… Other bots?"
A sad look appeared on Miu's face for obvious reasons. It probably wasn't best to tell Kiibo about the very real and very harmful robo-phobia that the people of the city had, not when he was just enjoying being alive for the first time since the game. She just shook her head, "Not now, Kiibo. We'll tell you later, but for now just focus on figuring out your flying, 'kay?"
He nodded again. "Alright! I will!" He stood for a moment as if waiting for something to happen, but then realised that simply manifesting the idea of flying wasn't going to make him fly. "So… Where is the power for flying stored? If I can just figure out how to turn that on…"
"Oh, 'course!" Miu laughed, "Yeah, I gotta tell ya' how it works. You got the main boosters in the bottom of your feet, they should've opened when you turned on flight mode. Check your feet, should be giant holes, hah!"
Kiibo followed her instruction and looked surprised to find that there were, in fact, giant holes in the bottom of his feet that hadn't been there before. Then, he looked up, declaring, "Okay! I think I know how to turn them on then!"
"Ah, but first! You got helping boosters in those wings, you gotta make sure to use those for turning and stuff, just going up like a rocket doesn't do anyone any good, hah!"
He responded, "Okay! I'll try to use those, too!" Then, after taking a couple more precautionary steps away from Miu, he looked to his feet, and… "Ah, it works!" A bright smile appeared on his face as energy pulsed below his feet which were now levitating. It was only a couple inches off of the ground, but it was still progress.
Kokichi watched in wonder as the robot slowly lifted off the ground, not doing anything to stop the natural look of amazement as Kiibo got further in the air. With a little more encouragement from Miu, Kiibo flew above them and tried to control his movements in the air. His movements looked unnatural at first, but then he began to circle above them, letting out 'woo's of enjoyment as he seemed to immediately get a hang of it.
Then, carefully, Kiibo lowered himself to the ground, reaching a hand up to turn off the flight mode before running over to where Miu and Kokichi had been standing and watching. He had a bright smile on his face. "I wish you two could fly, too! It's so much fun! I… I never expected such a robotic ability to be so enjoyable, but… I love it!"
Kokichi grinned, "As much as I'd love to ask you to carry me while you fly so I could know how it is… I don't really trust your strength. Wasn't it supposed to be… slightly below average?"
Kiibo looked a bit embarrassed, "Well, superhuman strength wouldn't be very human…" But he turned to Miu, "Is my strength still the same?"
Miu looked nervous all of a sudden, "Well… I might've increased it a little bit… But not too much! Just… Maybe a bit closer to Momota's strength, y'know? I didn't want you to be stuck as a wimpy robot, especially if… y'know… just in case something happened!"
He seemed to consider that information, but smiled. "I am glad if it means I can be of use to you guys. I wouldn't want someone to get hurt because I didn't have the strength to protect them, after all! So… I could try and carry you, if you wanted Ouma-ku–"
With a nervous laugh, Kokichi interrupted the robot, "Ah, well, I don't want to fly anyways! What a stupid thing, I love walking and running around, y'know. Sooo, I'd rather keep my feet on the ground, heh." Did the idea of trusting Kiibo not to make an oopsie while flying make him nervous? Possibly. Just possibly.
"Alright! Well… Should I practise what you want me to do for Saihara-kun? I'm not quite sure yet what I'm supposed to do…"
Miu scoffed, "Awh, don't worry about that, Kiibo. I know what he means, but I don't know how he plans to signal ya'." She turned to look at Kokichi, "So, what's the idea, genius?"
Kokichi thought for a moment, then responded, "How about I just do this?" He lifted both of his hands to his mouth to make a shrill whistling sound. It was probably the loudest noise he could make, and it definitely seemed to work for getting their attention, because Miu looked shocked by the sound at first.
"Sheesh. Yeah, that should work just fine, hah! Give us a count to sixty to get down there before ya' give the signal, alright?" She didn't wait for a response before she turned around to head to the trapdoor, "C'mon, Kiibo, let's see how this goes, 'kay?"
Kiibo nodded and followed her.
So, Kokichi wandered to the edge of the building, doing just as Miu said and counting up to a minute. It didn't take so long, but he gave them a few extra seconds before mimicking the same shrill whistle as he had done before. He waited in anticipation for a few moments, not sure if they could even hear him, but then…
There was a whooshing sound as a huge mass rocketed above the building from the side. The huge mass being Kiibo, of course. He circled around the rooftop a couple times, before landing perfectly a few metres from Kokichi.
"Hello!" He greeted, a big, proud grin on his face. "Was that an impressive entrance, Ouma-kun?"
Kokichi nodded, his own smile of wonder taking over his face. "Yeah… That'll do perfectly." He let out a laugh as he thought about the look of confusion and wonder that would be on Shuichi's face when he saw Kiibo. "He'll definitely be happy. Don't tell Iruma-chan, but… I'm really thankful to you, Kiiboy, honestly. You're going to make everyone so happy."
Kiibo slightly blushed blue, "Really? I mean… I've missed them, too. I'm happy that everyone has missed me just as much as I've missed them, then!"
He nodded again, "Yeah…" It was strange, having been so truthful and sincere all of a sudden, but… it was Kiibo, so…
The robot let out a small laugh, "Has it been a long time since when we were together in the game? It just… It feels so different. Miu, too, but… mostly you. Yes, you haven't been calling me by my actual name, but… normally you would've said something far more mean to me."
He quirked a brow, "Do you… want me to be robophobic?"
Shaking his head and lifting his hands defensively, Kiibo responded, "Oh, no. No, thank you." And with that, he headed back to the trapdoor, looking back at Kokichi one last time, saying "I'll be ready, don't worry!" before he climbed down into the lab.
Standing completely alone now, Kokichi let a smile sit on his face as he walked back toward the stairwell. Kiibo was back. It felt so strange for him to just be back even though that is what he had wanted. Would… Would things change? For one, Kokichi knew Miu wouldn't want or need him around as much anymore, but… that was alright; part of him had already anticipated that.
Kokichi entered the stairwell. He didn't know how Shuichi would react, other than happily, of course. Shuichi had been acting so differently; it made it hard to get a proper read on him anymore. The plan all along had been for Shuichi to find out about Kiibo and then be told that Kokichi had been helping Miu build him that whole time, but… now part of him doubted if he even deserved that.
He had been expecting to feel overwhelming happiness and pride after Kiibo was back, but instead he just felt nervous. The feeling ate at him the whole way down the stairwell, only stopping when he told himself to get his act together so that he wasn't acting off when he made it to home base.
He pushed open the door back into home base, hearing the usual chatter from down the hall, likely in the living area. Warily, he made his way down the hall. He could pick out Kaito's voice among the chatter, along with Tenko's, likely since the both of them tended to be loud talkers.
When he made it to the end of the hall, he only looked around the corner, not wanting to be noticed by too many. Right away he was able to pick out the blue-haired detective from the small grouping of people, sitting in a chair with that resting frown on his face. He expected he would have to get Shuichi's attention somehow, but as the man's eyes wandered, they landed right on Kokichi and the slightest of changes in his eyes was enough to say he had noticed him.
Kokichi grinned and tilted his head as a gesture to come over before quickly disappearing back into the hall. He only had to wait a short moment before Shuichi rounded the corner and greeted him with a nod.
"Hm, so you did come back earlier," Shuichi acknowledged, likely in reference to the note Kokichi had left that morning. "Ah, but— I didn't see Miu walk past, is she with you?"
He shook his head amusedly, "Smart detective, but don't worry, she's alright. There's something more important you need to see." Without waiting for a response, he grabbed Shuichi's wrist and pulled him along as he started to walk back down the hall to the stairwell.
Shuichi was clearly a bit taken by surprise, but followed him without hesitation despite that. Instead, he just asked, "'Something more important'? It's not something bad is it?"
He shook his head again, finding the man's worry amusing. Why did his mind immediately jump to the possibility it was bad? Wasn't it clear that Kokichi was happy? And Kokichi wouldn't have gotten his attention and pulled him away in such a way if it was bad. Was he really that sceptical of Kokichi's true emotion? He supposed he didn't blame him so much if that was the case.
When they entered the stairwell, Kokichi had still been holding onto Shuichi's wrist, as if literally dragging him along, not even fully realising it until Shuichi spoke up again.
"If… If you want to hold my hand, you can."
The invitation was, like a lot of Shuichi's odd behaviour lately, unexpected. But Kokichi just let go of Shuichi's wrist and asked with his usual grin, "Why would I want to do that?" He went up a single step before he realised how rude that could've sounded, so, like a distraction from the subject ever being brought up, he started running up the stairs, yelling, "Betcha can't catch me!"
Shuichi, hilariously enough, only awkwardly stood around for a moment more before shaking his head and attempting to catch up to Kokichi. His attempt at quickly going up the stairs ended only a moment or so before Kokichi's did, since the man easily exhausted and ended up clinging to the railing.
"What was that about? You didn't even make it that far," Shuichi pointed out with a tired laugh. "I could just run ahead on one of the landings and catch you easily."
Kokichi considered his point but ended up disagreeing. "I would just run then, too. Forever just being a landing ahead, ha!"
They had gone a few more steps before Shuichi let out a small sigh. "You always have been, haven't you?" A moment went by like he was expecting Kokichi to question him, but instead he just sighed again. "I swear you're always a landing ahead. No matter what I thought I've figured out… you continue to elude me, Ouma-kun."
He glanced back at Shuichi for a moment, grinning smugly, "Well, I do try, y'know." Then he continued up the stairs like nothing happened. He swore when he looked back forwards that he heard a huff of laughter from Shuichi, but he couldn't tell for sure.
They continued up the awkwardly long flight of stairs in verbal silence, for the echoing of footsteps was constant. The whole time, Kokichi kept having to shake anxious thoughts from his head as said thoughts kept threatening to send him into a spiral. He had been thinking about and planning this moment forever, it was a bit embarrassing to admit just how much he thought about it.
He had thought about making Shuichi shut his eyes and then open them to nothing, only for Kiibo to appear. He had thought about Shuichi's face in that moment. The confused look that Kokichi had seen a million times would turn to shock as he noticed the robot, then curiosity as he tried to figure out what it was. Would he laugh when the robot went flying right past him? Would he smile in wonder?
Then, Kiibo would land and Shuichi would finally realise that it was him. It was Kiibo. Would he give Kokichi a questioning look as if to ask 'is this real?' when he finally saw Kiibo? He could only imagine him being speechless like Kokichi and Miu had been when Kiibo had first spoken. Would he examine him cautiously from afar? Or… Maybe he'd ask, 'Kiibo? Is that… Is that you?'
Kokichi wanted that. He wanted it to be perfect.
And… Maybe then Miu would climb up from the hatch and laugh, boasting about how she had been working on making him just as perfect as he needed to be for the last few months. Then… Would Shuichi thank her? Would he remind her of how much she had done for everyone? If that was the case, Miu would get all fussy again, saying 'Well, of 'course I'm the best.'
And they'd be happy. And… Kokichi would have earned it, in his head and heart he finally would feel like he earned it. But then… He'd be completely out of use. No one would need him anymore. So… It didn't even matter. Forgiveness didn't matter when that was all he'd have. Family didn't matter when he would never be truly a part of that. Love didn't matter when he wasn't worth loving.
Guilt. Horrible guilt. It still was holding him in that chokehold.
When Kokichi reached the final landing where the door to leave was, he was spooked from his thoughts by a hand on his arm. He spun to look behind himself, not getting the time to cover the look of shock on his face.
"Caught you," Shuichi said amusedly, a smile resting on those pretty lips of his. That smile could kill Kokichi, and he would gladly die for that smile… again. It made him think things like not caring at all about anything else in the world, even if only for a split second.
Kokichi gave a smile back, but he knew it was weak in comparison to his usual grins. "So you did." Then, with a slight pull, he moved his arm from Shuichi's grasp and turned to head out the door. He scolded himself internally for responding so lifelessly. Shuichi was just playing around with him, why would he just dismiss him like that?
If he kept it up, he was going to ruin his last chance to make a great impression.
Still, Shuichi seemed unfazed by the response when he fell to Kokichi's side in the bright sunlight of midday. "Wow… It's so bright. As well as those lights of Miu's work, nothing quite compares to the real thing, does it?" (Shuichi was wrong only in the aspect that his smile was probably a million times brighter than the sun, Kokichi thought, laughing internally at his incredibly cheesy thoughts.)
After being given time to clean up his act, Kokichi fully grinned as he responded. "I guess that's true, but… the surprise I have for you is even more amazing than the sunlight!"
"Ah, it's a surprise, huh?" He chuckled, "I guess I should've figured that by the way you didn't explain. I like a good surprise, I suppose. Not a bad one though, so… as long as you were telling the truth that it isn't bad, I'm sure I'll like it."
Kokichi scoffed, "Really? You don't have a clue as to what it could possibly be, yet you're so sure you'll like it? That doesn't make any sense, Saihara-chan!"
Shuichi looked away, scratching at his face awkwardly as he admitted, "Yeah, I suppose it doesn't…" After the pause that followed his quiet words, he asked, "So… Where are you taking me? Are we going all the way down to the street? I should've asked earlier, I—"
He interrupted him, "Hey, it's fine! If we were going far I would've told you! It's really close by, I swear. I can see the place right now, actually!"
The man let out an intrigued hum, "A place, huh?" Kokichi was going to say something to discourage the false lead, but he supposed Shuichi would find out he was wrong soon enough. After another moment passed, he asked another question. "Does Miu have something to do with it? You never answered about where she was, earlier."
Kokichi laughed, "C'mon, Mr. Detective! You're gonna ruin the surprise if you keep asking so many questions!"
He chuckled softly, "Ah… I suppose you're right."
They walked along the side of the building-top, heading towards the ladder that went down to the rooftop of the building that Miu's secret lab was in. Or at least, a rooftop that led to that one just by hopping down a small ledge. Out of boredom, Kokichi hopped up onto the raised ledge, holding his arms out like he was balancing.
Shuichi watched him warily as they walked. He looked like he wanted to say something against it, but held his words in for the moment. Whenever Kokichi would start to lean to one side, even if just for a moment, he could see the man take in a quick breath as if expecting him to slip and fall. But he kept his worry to himself for the couple minutes they had walked like that.
Nearing the ladder, Kokichi had started walking a bit faster, and he accidentally mis-took a step, causing his balance to be temporarily offset. He likely wouldn't have fallen, the ledge was very wide, and it wasn't too large of a mis-step, but, still, an arm reached out, blocking him from falling toward the edge.
"Careful, Ouma-kun. That looked close. I don't want you getting hurt."
Kokichi shrugged off the incident, "Aw, c'mon! It wasn't that bad at all! Trust me, Saihara-chan, I'm plenty careful!"
He sighed, "I know that… But I know you can be plenty reckless, too. You can't blame me too much for being worried, can you?"
To be completely honest, Kokichi didn't know how to feel about Shuichi's worry as of late at all. Nearly everything that Shuichi had done that surprised him had been some statement or act that came from a place of some sort of odd worry Shuichi had suddenly developed for Kokichi. It bothered him, as was clear by the multiple times he had mulled over those actions, but what could he do?
Shuichi had seemingly made up his mind that Kokichi was worth worrying about, and Kokichi supposed it made sense. After all, his own stupidity could get others hurt if he wasn't careful.
They climbed down the ladder, ending up not too far from where the entrance to Miu's secret lab was. So Kokichi turned to Shuichi and told him, "Once we get over that ledge, you're going to have to close your eyes, 'kay? That way it's a real surprise!"
He gave him a wary look, "I don't know… Is that safe? We shouldn't mess around up here like that, Ouma-kun."
Kokichi hummed thoughtfully, "Well, if you don't trust yourself to not walk off the edge of the building, I could always cover your eyes for you! Y'know, unless you don't trust me either. Then again, I would hope you'd distrust me. Asking you to wander on top of a building with your eyes closed? How suspicious…"
Shuichi shook his head and let out a small sigh. "I don't suspect you for anything, Ouma-kun. I took your word for it when you said you had something to show me. There's no use doubting something like that…"
He hummed again, "I suppose. I wouldn't suggest sticking to those words, though. You shouldn't trust so easily."
Again, he let out a small sigh, "It's been about a year… If you had wanted to hurt me or anyone, you would've done it by now. I don't think you're going to hurt me at all, that's just unreasonable."
"Whatever you say, Saihara-chan!" Kokichi laughed and walked ahead, making it to the small ledge first. It was only an arms-length above the top of the other building, so he could hop down and then climb back up later with ease. With a usual grin, he waited for Shuichi to catch up, watching as he cautiously stepped down the ledge. "C'mon, we're nearly there!"
Shuichi gave a brisk nod, "Of course, I'm—" He cut himself off when Kokichi came up from behind and put his hands over the man's eyes. "Ah-!" He chuckled softly, reaching up to grab Kokichi's wrists, moving the hands away from his eyes to look over his shoulder at Kokichi, "Is this really necessary?"
Kokichi nodded enthusiastically, putting his hands once again over Shuichi's eyes.
The man reached again to move his hands, laughing again at the action, "I could just close my eyes and you can guide me with my arm or something. I think covering my eyes for me is a bit excessive, Ouma-kun." Despite the clear disapproval, he still seemed very light-hearted about it, and, for whatever reason, still put his trust in Kokichi.
"Okay, okay… I guess it's alright if you do that." He laughed and moved to Shuichi's side, grabbing ahold of his arm as he had requested. He waited until Shuichi had squeezed his eyes shut, then said, "No peeking!" As he began to walk forwards.
Shuichi just shook his head lightly, "Don't worry, I won't."
Of course, having Shuichi close his eyes was just another part of the surprise. When Kokichi told him to open them, he would see absolutely nothing and realise they were just atop the same building as before, likely becoming confused and possibly starting to feel like Kokichi had wasted his time, but, then, Kokichi would whistle and clear that doubt right away.
Kokichi repeatedly looked over at Shuichi, to find he looked the same every time. His eyes were shut of course, but a small grin rested on his face, occasionally letting out some soft laughter as Kokichi pulled him along. When they neared the edge of the building, Shuichi ended up asking, "Are we almost there?"
He responded, "Nope! We are there, silly!" He let go of Shuichi's arm and continued, "You can open your eyes, now."
Shuichi blinked his eyes open, looking almost immediately confused, just as Kokichi as expected. He looked at the open sky in front of them, then at Kokichi, and then he glanced behind himself. Finally, he looked back at Kokichi, "Ah… Did I just get pranked, or…? What am I looking for?"
He grinned, "Did you look around all the way? You didn't even check over here!" He walked right up close to the edge of the building, turning to Shuichi, "C'mon, come see, over the edge!"
"Ouma-kun, be careful!" He walked a couple steps closer, eyes wide with worry.
Kokichi laughed, "Don't be so worried, Saihara-chan! I'll be fine!" He leaned a bit forwards, planning to say something like 'You have to look over the ledge to see it!' and then glance over the edge himself until Shuichi stepped a bit closer so he could whistle. But he didn't even get the chance to get that far. Because… Of course things had to go all wrong.
One moment he was fine and then, the next… His foot had slipped. His life nearly flashed before his eyes as that feeling of sinking set in, unable to control a thing as his vision of the blue sky blurred. He nearly closed his eyes as he took a quick breath in, expecting the worse.
"Ah–! Ouma—!" Shuichi's voice called out, and Kokichi really thought that'd be the last thing he'd ever hear at that moment.
But, in a flash, Kokichi was falling the other direction, having been pushed by another force, time slowing down around him as he managed to make eye contact with Shuichi, arms outstretched after pushing Kokichi away from the edge. Then… It was gone. Kokichi fell back and hit the concrete roof, and…
Shuichi was gone.
.
.
.